Hmm..what a nice song…and what a sad movie

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Some pictures that I have taken during my trip to Berlin
during our Easter holidays. Enjoy!

Why is that the nurses have collected 5 times blood so far and the results have all turned out fine yet they are continuing to collect blood from me. Why is that? Am I possibly functioning as a secret blood donor here???

On sunday my stomach started to hurt like hell. After half an hour of unbearable pain I decided to get an emergency check at the hospital since it was weekend. And here I am. Stuck in a hospital since sunday. I was transferred to the emergency surgery where everything was prepared for a potential surgery since the suspicion was an appendicitis. After several blood collection, ultrasound, infusion and urine tests later - the appendicitis could not be fully confirmed. The pain became eventually better and now I will stick here for another day of surveillance. According to the doctor I may have an abdominal influenza…well let’s see..

The last few weeks went by just so fast. I can’t believe that James already left. Well, that’s life I guess. There is more to look forward. I truly hope that things will work out between us. The other day I wanted to take him to Heidelberg but unfortunately my car broke down on the middle of the freeway. I had it towed and ended up paying over 300 bucks. What a day! Phew!

As terrible as the killing in Virginia is. I think the world should not forget that there are also civilians being killed on a daily basis in other parts of the world. Just thinking about Irak, Afghanistan and Philippines were seven christians were currently beheaded makes me sad. Also we should not forget that there are other victims involved as well. Everyone is talking about the shooter Cho Seung Hui but what about his parents? They would also need support from the society. Knowing that their own son killed so many people must had been already terrible but seeing the video and the pictures of their son must had been devastating to them. As long as there are weapons, there will be killing and grief.

Finally it was my turn. After waiting for about almost half an hour my number that was printed on this piece of paper appeared on the screen. I went over to the desk and told the clerk what I needed. After filing the appropriate paperwork she handed me over the invoice telling me to go over to the cash register and pay. So I took those papers and went over to the cashier.

Lan-Anh: Good morning
Cashier: Good morning

The cashier seemed somewhat relaxed. Her hair was slightly pulled back and some grey strands appeared in between her natural hair color. She glimpsed at me from behind her glasses and processed the paper. She must have been in her forties.

Cashier: Ok. Fifty-nine is your total
Lan-Anh: Oh no, I corrected her. I applied for the express service.
Cashier: Oh. ~ A bit confused she took a look at my papers and operated the cash machine once again ~ Ninety-one, please.

~ I handed her over the money. She glimpsed at me again and suddenly her eyes froze ~

Cashier: Did you hear about the Virginia shooting?
~ A bit surprised I nodded ~
Cashier: That guy was from your country!
Lan-Anh: Damn. What the ….? ~ I was holding back my breath and was about to shout to her something but then I thought it wasn’t even worth it. Now am I being stigmatized for looking asian? I just hate it when people say something without thinking twice. I just don’t like it! Woof!~

James and I spend the day in Luxemburg. The day was beautiful. It was all sunny. Luxemburg is a very rich country since the tax is so low. In fact the Income tax is one of the lowest within Europe and even when it comes to the sales tax I was shocked. Only 3 % compared to 19 % in Germany!

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the 2 cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts that you have reduced your expenses. Your stock goes up.

A FLORIDA CORPORATION: You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who like the brown one best vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can’t figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which is the best-looking one.

A NEW YORK CORPORATION: You have fifteen million cows. You have to choose which one will be the leader of the herd, so you pick some fat cow from Arkansas.

A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch. Life is good.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You reengineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows but you don’t know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. You produce your 10th, 5-year plan in the last 3 months. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

A SWISS CORPORATION: You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for storing them for others. If they give milk, you tell no one.

AN ENGLISH CORPORATION: You have two cows but you do not milk them because you drink tea.